Avatar Passes $200 Million at IMAX Theaters

IMAX Corporation and Twentieth Century Fox today announced that James Cameron’s Avatar has crossed the $200 million mark at IMAX theaters worldwide during the weekend from Friday, February 19, 2010 through Sunday, February 21. During its 10th weekend, the film grossed $4.3 million from 179 IMAX theaters domestically, representing approximately 27% of the film’s total domestic three-day weekend gross of $16.2 million. Internationally, the IMAX release grossed $3.9 million from 84 IMAX theaters, bringing the weekend’s global IMAX total to approximately $8.2 million and the film’s overall IMAX global total to more than $200 million.

“This incredible milestone not only reflects the mass appeal of watching ‘Avatar’ in IMAX, it also reflects the significant expansion of our global audience base,” said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. “‘Avatar’ was a perfect fit for IMAX and the type of event title IMAX fans and exhibitors embrace. We look forward to growing our audience even more as we continue to expand the IMAX network and offer moviegoers more of Hollywood’s biggest films.”

The IMAX release has delivered particularly strong performances across the international IMAX theatre network. In the Asia-Pacific market, the IMAX network has generated approximately $43 million from 38 screens, with 20 IMAX screens in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Australia, each surpassing the $1 million mark.

In the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, the IMAX release generated more than $32 million from 35 screens, many of which surpassed the $1 million mark. Some IMAX locations have more than doubled that milestone, including Moscow’s Nescafe IMAX Theatre, which has reported approximately $3 million in gross box office receipts from its single IMAX screen, and the BFI IMAX in London, which reported more than $2.3 from its single IMAX screen.

“The combination of James Cameron’s revolutionary film and the enhanced image and sound of The IMAX Experience has clearly resonated with ‘Avatar’ fans around the world,” said Greg Foster, Chairman and President, IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “We reached this milestone thanks to the strong word of mouth about the experience of watching ‘Avatar’ in IMAX, and the hard work of all of those at Lightstorm, Twentieth Century Fox, IMAX and our global exhibition partners.”

“Many exhibitors in domestic and international markets have pushed the boundaries of their operations to accommodate the high demand to experience this amazing movie in IMAX,” added Phil Groves, IMAX’s Senior Vice President, Film Distribution. “Many locations are still seeing strong business from extended show time schedules.”